1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cooking apparatus, adapted to burn liquid fuel, having a fiberglass material to hold and contain the fuel, and providing for burning at an upper exposed surface thereof, thereby providing a cooking apparatus which is safe as it is not susceptible to spillage of the liquid fuel, and will provide a large burn area so as to enable the cooking apparatus to attain the higher temperatures necessary for cooking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable fuel canisters are a commonly used means for providing heat, especially as required to maintain items, such as food, hot, yet readily accessible. These types of burners are popularly used in buffet type situations, wherein food contained in serving pans is sought to be kept hot. Further, it is often desirous to cook various food items using these portable burners, such as during camping, fishing or other outdoor activities. As a result of these common and beneficial uses, there have been numerous designs of burners which attempt to optimize their convenience. Examples of these portable burners include, U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,225 to Grabitt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,108 to K.O.A. Boij et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,907 to K.O.A. Boij et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,633 to Bandel, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,774 to G.W. Livingston. Unfortunately, all of these designs heat by means of a wick which draws fuel from a reservoir. While having some advantages, a wick type burner provides limited heat which is generally useful for warming and insufficient to cook food. Further, a liquid fuel is absorbed into the wick and flows quite readily from a reservoir, presenting a highly dangerous situation should the burner tip and the fuel spill, as the flame will ignite the spilled fuel and cause a substantial fire. In addition to wick type burners, other inventions have attempted to maintain a larger burning surface in order to maximize the heating capacity. Examples of such designs include U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,858 to Blankenship et al., and the commonly known "STERNO" .RTM. burners. These devices however, also utilize fuel that is prone to spilling from the canister should the burner fall. More particularly, the STERNO .RTM. type burners use a gel alcohol fuel which melts as it burns thereby allowing it to splash or spill should the canister be accidentally tipped or abruptly moved. Additionally, the fuel in these devices burns down, thereby making the burn area difficult to ignite after its initial use and making the container very hot due to the flame being within the canister. As the fuel burns down, the level of the flames gradually lowers in accordance with the fuel level in the canister. Thus, the effectiveness of the burner is reduced as it burns due to the flame level moving down and away from the item being heated. Additionally, the "STERNO" .RTM. type burners are subject to flash igniting which is potentially dangerous to a user who must relight or initially light the burner. Further, most of these burners in the related art employ metal lids which can cause the fuel to evaporate, and are constructed such that the containers are subject to rust and corrosion. Finally, these types of known burners, are often malodorous, emit toxic gasses, and unpredictably burn when almost out of fuel. For these reasons, it is highly desirous to have a new cooking burner which will be as equally convenient as known burners, but will greatly reduce the potential dangers involved.
The present invention is specifically designed to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art. The cooking fuel canister is non-toxic and includes a container that will not be subject to rust or corrosion, thereby increasing the shelf life of the product. Further, the present invention provides an extensive burn surface which will provide the higher temperatures necessary for cooking to be attained, and the flame level does not burn down such that the heating temperature will remain constant Additionally, the fuel canister of the present invention provides for a slow igniting of the burn surface, thereby making it safe to light and relight. Finally, Applicant's invention utilizes odorless and clean burning fuel which is contained so as to be spill-proof, yet burn at an upper surface, thereby maximizing the fuel efficiency of the burner and maintaining the cool container relatively cool and manageable.